Best Friends
by Mrs. HopeEstheim
Summary: Being one of Natsu's best friends wouldn't have bothered the blonde celestial mage so much if she hadn't finally come to the irreparable realization that she had fallen for the salmon-haired idiot. NaLu. T for language. Forgive the unoriginal title, please!


**So before I go off to college (in like seven hours and I still haven't slept oh crap) I decided to post a quick little one-shot. It's written out in a notebook (very sloppily; I'm cringing re-reading it!) but I'm going to edit on the fly and did I mention it's midnight right now? Yeah. And I also wanted to attempt to type up another little gift…or at least plan a future story a little bit, so I'm rushing here. I'm kind of too nervous to sleep that the moment.**

**Anywho, here you are.**

* * *

"Best friends," Lucy Heartfilia scoffed quietly to her empty apartment, hugging herself tightly as she perched precariously on the edge of her bed.

Being one of Natsu's _best friends_ wouldn't have bothered the blonde celestial mage so much if she hadn't finally come to the irreparable realization that she had fallen for the salmon-haired idiot. But that was truth of the matter: she _had_ fallen for him, and as far as her knowledge went, he only saw her as a best friend. Lucy found herself desperately wanting more than that but woefully unaware of how to pursue it.

"Idiot!" she cried in a scolding manner, not entirely certain whether she was talking to herself or aloud or to the absent Natsu.

She forced herself abruptly to her feet, stalking into the kitchen with her mind in turmoil. A nice, hot cup of tea should hit the spot nicely right about now and perhaps soothe her frazzled nerves. Everything about the _best friend_ comment from their last job had hit her hard and although she'd been able to hide it from Natsu Dragneel, she couldn't hide it from herself for much longer. She used the excuse that she was too tired to stay at the guild for long upon their return and had gone straight home…but now here she was simply brooding on those two simple words.

"_Best friends_," she repeated scathingly to herself, putting her kettle of water on the stove and turning it on. "That wouldn't hurt so much if I wasn't so fucking _in love_ with him!"

Her hands lifted into the air exasperatedly and she continued to mutter to herself about her newfound feelings—feelings she was sure had been there for a while and she'd just been pushing them to the side because, subconsciously, she thought she might have known she'd be eternally friend-zoned. And Lucy didn't _want_ to be friend-zoned.

She sat her teacup and saucer down on the cabinet with much more force than was necessary, digging out her herbal green tea bags next. She ripped the package open and sat the bag into the empty cup, dangling the string over the side like her mother had taught her when she was young. The blonde was rather dismayed to see how her fingers were shaking. She clenched her fist atop the cabinet then, hoping to stave away the trembles, but to no avail. Her knuckles turned white but her limbs still betrayed how dangerously close to tears she was.

Everything in her mind was Natsu and _best friend_ and everything _hurt_.

The kettle shrieked loudly a few moments later—a few moments too soon, she thought, because she'd been too distracted to really pay attention—and Lucy turned the oven off quickly, using a potholder to lift the hot metal off of the burner.

Carefully, she tipped the boiling water into her teacup and watched as the light color of the green tea slowly dispersed into the water, tinting it a light yellowish color to start with. The kettle was deposited on one of the stove burners that _wasn't_ still radiating heat and Lucy grabbed the teabag's dangling string, lifting it up and down as if that would help the process along. It was something she had learned from the maids at the Heartfilia manor as a child and it was just a force of habit nowadays. She wasn't really very patient, especially not in circumstances like the one she found herself in.

Lucy carefully picked the cup up and took it to the kitchen table, taking a seat with a sigh. She let the tea simmer with the teabag for a few moments before removing it from the hot liquid and placing it on the saucer. Blowing gently across the surface of the tea, the blonde ex-heiress took a small sip. It was still really warm and almost burnt her tongue.

The heat reminded her of fire, which reminded her of dragonslayers, which inevitably drew her mind back to thoughts of Natsu.

* * *

Lucy was sitting at her desk, her fourth cup of tea at her elbow, as she valiantly struggled to even _start_ the next chapter of her novel. Levy was eager to read more and the blonde would have been only too happy to oblige…had she been able to think straight.

Well, she could think straight, but only where a certain salmon-haired mage was involved.

"Dammit," Lucy groaned, setting her ballpoint pen down and leaning back in her chair. "I can't do anything but think about Natsu!"

Her frustration was peaking, and the best way to let it out was to say it out loud, even if she couldn't tell Levy or Erza or even Gray because none of them were here. Hell, she would even be willing to tell the blabber-mouthed Happy had he been present!

"Stupid Natsu and his stupid _best friends_ comment!" the celestial mage stood and strode to her bathroom door, glaring at the carpet as if it had wronged her. "Of course he doesn't know that I'm _in love with him_, but still! Why does it have to hurt so much? Ugh!" the last bit was almost a disgruntled shriek of fury. It was an odd sound but it masked another sound that Lucy hadn't been the one to make.

The blonde continued rambling to herself out loud until a voice asked, "Lucy…?"

This time, she shrieked a little and spun on her heel, staring wide-eyed at the handsome salmon-haired man before her. There was evidence that he had once more climbed in through her window and she wondered how she had missed the noise and how much of her rant he had actually been there to hear. He could have probably heard everything she said from the end of the street, with hearing like his.

_He's not supposed to be here right _now! She couldn't help thinking frantically in her mind. But he _was_, and he was just standing there staring at her with an odd look in his eyes. How long had he been there though, really? _How much had he heard_?

His name was only halfway past her lips when he smothered the sound with his own mouth. It took only a matter of seconds for her mind to start reeling. This _was_ Natsu, wasn't it? The oblivious salmon-haired fire dragonslayer that had called the two of them merely _best friends_ not four hours earlier, on their way home after a six-day job?

_So what business did he have, kissing her?!_

Yet, as confused as Lucy was, she couldn't push him away for the world. The kiss was almost hungry, his mouth crushing hers as though he'd been holding this back for just as long as she'd wanted it. One firm, callused hand held Lucy's chin straight, almost as if he feared that she'd turn away—not that he needed to worry about _that_—and the other tugged the blonde closer at the waist. After pining for him for a few weeks—months!—now, his touch was positively _electric_.

Lucy now fully understood more than ever why she'd wanted _this_ for so long.

After Natsu broke away, the celestial mage fully intended to say something that might have been mildly protestant but before she had time to do more than gasp for breath, the dragonslayer was kissing her again. To her shock, just a second later her back hit the closed door to her bathroom and the thought crossed her mind—when had she been forced backwards?!—but she was too lost in the rush of the moment to really care anymore.

If this was some dirty trick, if she would lose him for reacting…she didn't care anymore. Lucy's hands flew up almost of their own accord, one threading into his salmon locks and the other snaking around the back of his neck as she pulled herself onto her tiptoes.

Did she have a clue what had brought this sudden attack from Natsu? No. But she would take it while it lasted. This forward, aggressive Natsu was even sexier than usual, even more so than the romantic Natsu in her daydreams. Every time the blonde had tried to imagine him confessing to her, it had been lame, clichéd lines from those romantic lachrima films…but in real life, he'd come up to her wordlessly and silenced her with his lips.

To Lucy, this was much better than any clichéd line, even if the action might have been clichéd itself. For the blonde, this was more passionate, more meaningful, than any sappy line could possibly hope to convey.

And then Natsu pulled away again, and even he had to stop to drag in a few deep breaths this time. Lucy felt light-headed from the lack of air and she felt as though her cheeks were burning. Her lungs were begging her to take nice, deep breaths and she was doing her best to oblige without gaping like a fish in front of Natsu.

Before Natsu could try to kiss her again, or try to run away for whatever reasons, she managed to choke out, "W-what are you d-doing, Natsu?"

He was breathing just as hard as the celestial mage in the circle of his arms and he couldn't help but grin down at the flushed cheeks and the slightly plumper lips. Her blonde hair was rather unkempt, but it was nice.

"I…what if I'm _in love with you_, too?" he finally managed, his forehead descending far enough to rest upon her own. "What if my _best friends_ thing hurt me, too?"

"I'd say…that you're really _dense_ if you didn't notice sooner!" the blonde tried to hide her embarrassment by hitting his chest, but he caught her wrist and grinned down at her in a way that made her heart skip a beat.

"I could say the same thing, Weirdo," he murmured softly.

"Hey—" Lucy was beginning to protest what he'd called her, but gave up when he kissed her again.

It was rather nice that she hadn't really been friend-zoned at all, though. And for the first time ever, the blonde celestial mage decided that she rather liked this whole _kissing_ thing. She especially liked it when her partner was Natsu, because it seemed like dragonslayers never half-assed _anything_.

* * *

**Insert subtle-almost-insinuative-comment-in-the-last-sentence…? Check.**

**Anyway, I really didn't have ANY sort of transitions or dialogue planned out AT ALL and I typed it on the fly and it's 12:45 AM and I leave in like six hours and I still don't feel like I'll be able to sleep and someone help me please! Haha.**

**Anywho, I hope you enjoyed, and please point out any problems you may find so I can correct them whenever I can.**

**College, here I come. Wish me luck.**

**EDITED for switch to first person. XD**


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